


no troubles, dear, are ever gonna find us

by Lilsciencequeen



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - World War II, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, False Accusations, Heavy Angst, Misunderstandings, Sad, Sad Ending, Unhappy Ending, atonement au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilsciencequeen/pseuds/Lilsciencequeen
Summary: She slipped her heels back on, silent, as he buttoned his shirt. It had been nothing more than a stolen moment in the library. A brief moment of passion and love, something that could never develop into anything more.It would never develop into anything more. He was nothing more than a gardener, the son of the housekeeper whereas she was so much more.// An Atonement AU
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	no troubles, dear, are ever gonna find us

**Author's Note:**

> I watched this film and I have a lot of emotions

She slipped her heels back on, silent, as he buttoned his shirt. It had been nothing more than a stolen moment in the library. A brief moment of passion and love, something that could never develop into anything more.

It _would_ never develop into anything more. He was nothing more than a gardener after all. The son of the housekeeper whereas she was so much more. 

Heiress to her father's company, one of the most powerful men in Britain.

Her future was mapped out, planned out, right down to the marriage that she was too have but it wasn’t to him. It would never be to him. No matter how much they loved each other, they could never be together.

He was beneath her, his place in society less than hers and to marry him would be something not too dissimilar to a crime.

It would be social suicide with such a shame brought upon not just her, but the whole family.

But they could have these stolen moments full of fleeting passion, and they meant the world to him. It was what he looked forward to each week, the stolen moments. The moments he had with her. And he knew they would be gone soon, so he savoured them even more. Wanting them to last as long as possible. But he couldn't have them, so he headed towards the library door. Wanting to get back to reality. 

“Wait.” The one word escaped her as a sultry whisper, and she reached out, allowing her hand to run over the back of his before dropping to her side. Her gaze also fell. “We shouldn’t be here. Give it two minutes before you follow me, then go around the side door and come back in the front. That way, nobody will ever have to know.” She looked up, and kissed him, savouring the moment as much as she could. “Once today’s over, I promise you, I promise you that we can work this out.”

He nodded, caressing her cheek with his palm and when she had left him his hand was holding nothing but the ghost of her. 

“Jem-!” he started to call out, letting the word die in his throat. He wasn’t supposed to be here, hiding in the library shadows but when he finally went to leave, he noticed something sparkling in the low light. Her necklace had fallen, the one that her grandmother had given her as a 16th birthday present before she had passed away, and losing it would be something that would cause her great distress, and he didn’t even think about it when he bent down to pick it up, careful not to damage it, the metal delicately flowing around his fingers.

Sliding the necklaces into his jacket pocket, intending to give it to Jemma once he left the library he eventually made his way to the door but froze, his hand only inches away from the handle. Glancing over his shoulder he could have sworn he heard something.

Could have sworn he sensed something, someone, hiding in the shadows. But when he turned around to see who it was, there was no one there.

***

“Sorry.” 

He hadn’t meant to bump into Ward, a friend of Jemma’s older brother and heir to some other company that Fitz didn’t overly care about. And someone he had always intended to avoid, bumping into him was the last thing that he wanted and judging by Ward's reaction, it wasn't something that he had wanted either.

He had been so focused on making his way back into the house undetected and now he was paying the price for this lack of attention. He could sense Ward starting to anger and knew that an argument, or maybe something worse, was just around the corner if he didn’t defuse the situation in time. He didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do and he could tell Ward was about to say something when...

“Fitz, so glad that you could make it.” Jemma had slotted herself into the situation, standing protectively in front of Fitz, a forced smile on her face, almost daring Ward to try and argue. But upon seeing her Ward seemed to settle, or at least bury his anger as if it wasn't worth it.

He wouldn’t throw a scene. Not here. Not now anyway. 

Not with Jemma standing there.

Not on her birthday.

Her parents had decided to throw her a lavish party for her twenty-first, and though she hadn’t wanted Ward there, her parents had invited him anyway. It was important they had said. It was necessary they had said, and Jemma couldn’t argue. So he had been invited and was now strutting about like he had owned the place.

But she had still gotten her way (she always did, they could never say no to her, not really), and she had wanted as much of the household staff there as possible.

They were family she had said. 

They had grown up with her, had helped raise her, she had said.

They deserved to be there, she had said, and neither parent had managed to argue back against her, giving in to this one demand if it meant she would be compliant during the dinner. 

And that meant Fitz too. Standing beside him, this close to him, her fingers twitched, learning to take his hand in her own, but she couldn’t. Not here. 

Not now.

And not in front of Ward. 

“C’mon,” she told Fitz more so than Ward. “Let’s head into the drawing-room. There should be drinks. And Mother and Father will be waiting for us.”

And she led the way, both men following her, both men silent but the tension between them thick, and ready to be broken by a misplaced blade. 

***

“Fitz took my bracelet.” The four words from Daisy were a statement as she stomped into the drawing-room. “It’s missing and he took it.” She crossed her arms, and the light chatter of guests in the drawing-room had stopped, everybody wanting to see what the commotion was.

Jemma went to bundle her younger sister out of the room, to explain to her that she must have misplaced it when running about in the meadow earlier that day. But her father grabbed her around the wrist, stopping her before she could resolve the situation. 

“Jemma.” His words were stern and his grip was so tight that no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to free herself. "Don't."

"No." She shook her head. "No, it can't have been Fitz. You know what Daisy's like. She's probably dropped it or forgotten it somewhere and thinks its Fitz. You know what she's like... Father please." 

But her pleas fell on deaf ears and everyone started turning their attention to Fitz, who was trying to back into the further corner of the room, his flume of champagne, like Jemma's, now on the floor, sparkling stars spilling on the carpet.

"Now now Jemma," came Ward's voice. He had got there before Fitz could do anything, pinning him against the walls and dropped a hand into all his pockets, trying to find the goods he had stolen. "Let's not do anything too quickly." Moments later he stepped back and had pulled out not only Daisy’s bracelet but Jemma’s own necklace, an unknown ring and a watch. "And there we go." A smug smile was on his face, and it made Jemma sick to her stomach because no... he couldn't have stolen them. He wouldn't have stolen them. She knew the necklace was missing, she had left the library without it. And if Fitz had it, well he must have spotted it. Would have returned it to her. He knew how much it meant to her.

Ward passed them all to Jemma’s father, who handed their jewellery to their mother, a look of shock and horror on her face that soon faded to disgust. She had been betrayed by her own gardener. Someone she had trusted. She bundled Daisy in her embrace, obviously trying to keep her youngest away from someone who dangerous.

"I think we know now who stole Daisy's bracelet. The one her grandmother gave her, just like Jemma's necklace here?" Ward was still talking on, still thinking he was better than anyone else in the room.

“Thank you, Grant. I believe these are yours,” her father said passing Ward back the watch and the ring. “It seems that you didn’t forget it in the first place.”

Ward thanked him in return, sliding the watch back on, and the ring back into his jacket pocket, forgotten for the moment, no longer the highlight of the night. Once he did so, his attention turned back onto Fitz, his anger a blazing inferno. "I think we need to do something about this one here," were the only words that he said, were the only words that needed to be said and Jemma's father nodded.

"I agree."

“Jemma… I didn’t…” was all that he had time to say before Ward forced him out of the room, Jemma screaming uselessly after them, her father’s grip still tight.

***

It took only twenty minutes for the police to appear, and despite Jemma explaining everything, including what she and Fitz had been doing in the library, that she must have knocked into the necklace catch when zipping up her dress, they didn’t believe her. 

The evidence had been stacked against him. There was no way that he wouldn’t be arrested, that he would get away with it.

Four pieces of jewellery found in his jacket and everything pointed against Fitz.

He had been seen upstairs, near Daisy’s room hours ago after delivering some new flowers to Jemma for her birthday. 

Daisy had seen him lift the necklace from the ground and slide the necklace into his pocket.

Ward had bumped into him, the moments later noticed that his watch and ring were missing.

It all pointed to him but Jemma knew that it wasn’t him.

She trusted that it wasn’t him.

And ignoring the demands of her father, the cries of her mother, she followed the police from the house, dragging an objecting Fitz between them.

When he, Ward and her father had returned to the drawing-room to speak to the police, his lip was split and bloody, his eye black. It didn't take much longer than that for things to go from bad to worse. Ward, her parents, Daisy, everyone in the room, they had all testified against him. They had laid his crimes out on the table, and they didn't even listen to Fitz. Why would they? He was below them. He was the gardener. And they had all the power. And they had gotten him convicted.

But not Jemma.

Except Jemma.

Never Jemma,

“Fitz!” she called out, her words falling on deaf ears. “Please, it wasn’t him. Listen to me, it wasn’t him. He was only trying to return it. It was a setup, please you have to believe me. Daisy's a child, barely thirteen. Please, please listen to me! You have to listen to me! It wasn't..." But they weren't listening, they would never listen to her. Fitz was an easy target. Someone to blame. And her father and Ward had power. _Too much power. Too much control_ she couldn't help thinking. They both hated Fitz and this... this would get him out of the way. "Fitz!"

It wasn’t until she reached the front of the house, only making it down two steps did her brother manage to restrain her, holding her back and holding her up as she felt her knees give way. What little energy, what little hope she had had there and then left her. There was no way that they would free Fitz tonight but she vowed to free him. 

If it was the last thing that she would do.

She watched him forced into the car, which was swallowed by the endless dark on the endless drive.

And a scream left her, a low, mournful cry that filled the otherwise silent night.


End file.
